Hey guys, haven't been on for a while. I'll post a thread with pics later about what I have been doing with my 1950 Panel this past year. Lots of work plus a fair amount of down time with it but it's back on the road again. I looked through some threads but didn't see what I was looking for concerning my heater switch. When I bought the truck, there was a deluxe heater bolted in but had never been used. Brand new repro I believe. There was a switch to the left of the steering wheel that said "Heat". It is a (I think) a four position switch. On the back of the switch are just two terminals with a fuse. We hooked it up and we were only getting defrost to blow, not the heater. So on the heater, we hooked up the heater only and that works. Can't seem to get both. Is there a heater switch with 3 terminals on the back so that we can use both? And does CL sell the old defrost hoses? I suppose I can look that up. Quick summary: this past year I had a completely rebuilt from the ground up 57 235 installed and converted the whole thing to 12 volt. Cleaned every nut and bolt and painted every piece under the hood. Brother-in-law did a ton of work and loomed all the wiring and advised me every step of the way. Just for fun and as a business advertisement, I woodgrained the dash in a burled walnut. I went to school 20 years ago to learn graining. Thanks for any help guys. Brian
Okay, first thing is to determine if the blower motor was 12 volt or six volt before you did the 12 volt conversion. If it was 6 volt prior you need to get a step down resistor or you will burn out the motor and the switch. It is not the chessy little "runtz" resistor or other smallish type step down resistor. The best one to use is a large ceramic style. I know that Jim Carter sells this I believe part number EL 135 and labeled as heavy duty voltage reducer. I would wire it before the heater switch. Next, exactly what kind of "deluxe" heater do you have? The deluxe "fresh air" heater that I have has only one blower motor and a lever that moves a vane internally to direct the flow of air to either the cab for heat or the defroster ducts for defrost. Perhaps you can attach a picture of your heater for clarification. You seem to have the period correct heater switch (which is very rare and made of unobtanium as repops are not available for the original type). Andy
Heater Defroster What Andy said ; If you have on of those Chevy DeLuxe heaters with two separate fan motors on it , you need another toggle typ switch , it'll say " DEF " on it , hard to find these days . If you have just one blower motor , there's a lever on the upper part of the heater that connects to a cable that is mounted under the dash lip to the right of the steering wheel , you pull the cable's knob out to divert hot air into the defroster ducts . this cable is now being re-popped . The ducting proper is standard stuff , any NAPA , Kragen / Shucks , Pep Boys etc. FLAPS will have it on the shelf . Pay sharp attention to the 6 > 12 volt advice ! your charging system will see the 6 volt motor as a dead short..... In a pinch you can use an ignition ballast resistor but you really do want a good ceramic resistor , remember : it'll get hot .
Thanks Andy and Nate. Yep, we did install the heavy ceramic resistor when going to 12 volt. I'll check and see if there is a lever anywhere to switch from defrost to heater but I think you are right Nate in that there are two blower motors. The panel truck is at my brother-in-laws pole barn at the moment so I'll get a photo of the heater and the switch and post soon. Maybe if the switch isn't readily available, we might have to rig two separate ones. Heater and defrost. Thanks again. Brian
